The Autobiography of Mark Patrick O'Hare
by Victoria Box
Summary: It starts with a boy named Mark that has a life changing moment after he enters a mysterious path. He meets a girl that helps guide him through life. The beginning is about you getting to know the boy character but as the book conts the girls life unravel
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

It was a dark and stormy day; actually it lasted for years. The days were long and the air was thick. The town was located near a bog, so that may have been the reason it was so gloomy. Its name was Greenwood Valley and nothing ever seemed to go right in this town.

It was a late afternoon and Mark was on his way to the baseball field located at Greenwood Valley Park. Although it was quiet outside, you could hear the distant yells from kids playing a game of baseball. Mark was only seven at the time, but was always lost in his thoughts.

As he continued towards the park he noticed a little trail leading into Greenwood Valley Forest. Because Mark had never noticed this trail before, he decided to skip his baseball game and take a nice walk through the woods. He didn't know what to expect from this little trail, but the decision ended up changing his life forever.

Mark entered the trail that he thought just led into the forest, and the moment he entered, he felt a significant difference. It could have been just a new feeling of excitement; or was it the bizarre trail that made the air around him change? Mark ignored the new feeling and continued on his journey.

The farther he walked, the weirder things had become. He didn't exactly know which way he was going, but could no longer turn around because the road he was on only two minutes ago, was now just the darkness of the forest.

Mark had to stop for a minute because an overwhelming wave of tiredness hit him. In his abrupt stop to try and wake himself up a little, he observed the change of scenery around him. The new place looked familiar even though he'd never seen it before. There was an aura about this place that made Mark feel as if he were at home once again. He shook himself awake and after his vision cleared a little more he faintly heard voices in the distance.

The trail he was following before had faded behind him and now led to the beginning of a time he had never seen before. His past was flying by him as if he were stuck in a tornado of his the terrible moments he remembered. The memories of the days his older brother began to beat him up; the time his mother forgot his birthday; the day he was left alone all night because he forgot to put his shoes in the closet and his train in the toy chest. All the looming memories began to eat at him and before he could even think to stop them he awakened in his bed to find that nothing had changed. His wallpaper was still Batman, his toy chest was sitting at the foot of his race car bed and his pajamas still had the warm little booties at the end of them.

He looked out his bedroom window from his bed to the shining sun for the first time in five years. It was going to be a good day, he could feel it, he just didn't know why.

Mark sat up, still shaky from the dream he had just had. Feeling light headed and a little confused because of the silence in the house, he got himself out of bed and went to the bathroom. He washed his face and brushed his teeth. When he looked up into the mirror he almost shrieked in admiration. He was different; everything about his body was older. There was a five o'clock shadow around his chin, and his face was sharp with a well defined jaw line. He looked behind him and back again to make sure he wasn't hallucinating the whole thing. Nothing changed though. He was now an 18 year old guy ready to go out and party with his friends.

He walked down the hall into the kitchen to find out he was home alone per usual. His mother was at work, and his brother was out at a friend's house fixing his car. Outside was an older black Volkswagen and across the road the little pond lied there, still and untouched.

To most people this would be the end of the world, but to Mark, this was just the beginning of his new life. He was excited to leave his past; his memories just depressed him more. This was his time; he could finally start over, and that's exactly what he was going to do.

There was a vibration going on around him, it felt like it was coming from his pocket. Mark reached his hand inside his pants and pulled out what looked like a small portable telephone. The I.D. read Greg and from what Mark remembered the only Greg he knew was from his baseball team, and he hated Mark. He hesitantly flipped open the phone, not knowing what to expect after he did so.

After about ten seconds of silence; "Hello?" said Greg's voice. "Dude, are you there? Are you still gonna come over and play Monopoly tonight?"

Mark didn't answer right away, still amazed that the guy wanted him to go over his house.

"Hello? Mark? Are you there? Ugh, piece of shit phone. Mark?" said Greg again, now beginning to wonder.

"Umm.. Hey?" replied Mark, finally. "What did you ask me?"

"Jeez! Why didn't you answer me, I was about to hang up on you dude," said Greg. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house tonight and play Monopoly. Scott's bringing some girls from Bentwood over."

"Sure, but I don't know how to play Monopoly, or whatever it's called." Greg laughed and told him to meet at his house around 8 o'clock. Mark was full of questions, some asking how will he get there, where does this kid live, why is he now talking to him when about 30 minutes ago he could have sworn Greg hated him, and how did you play Monopoly? In his confused state of mind Mark decided maybe it would be best if he found out his recent past. The only thing was, he had no idea how to. Frantically, Mark started searching for things that could indicate what he had been up to the past couple days. He thought maybe this was just a dream, that he was still lying on the path sleeping, missing his baseball game for nothing. Maybe it was just a premonition, but either way, he was still going to look for past references. That's right, the trail in the forest. If he could just find that again and go down it one more time, it might lead him to where he was before this ever happened. As he tried to remember where the path was exactly, he noticed it was already six o'clock. The time was passing by so fast, if he couldn't get back he might be late to Greg's. So he began to walk. For the two hours he'd search for the path, and if he didn't come across it in that time span, he'd waltz over to Greg's and forget that the path ever happened.

He didn't really remember where it was, considering he didn't even remember coming out of it. He decided to head over towards the park because that's where he remembered he was going yesterday before he was 18. As he followed the road to the park, he noticed something slightly different about this area. It was cleaner and everything, even the trees, seemed happier. He began to reminisce about the past being so gloomy and dark. He was beginning to like the brightness, and if he did find the path that lead to his past, he felt he would just ignore it anyways.

He stopped in front of the old run down baseball field remembering the games he played for the past two years. Mark was lost in his thoughts, once again, and could vaguely hear a voice calling to him from across the road.

"Mark! Hey! Mark! Hello...?" yelled Greg. Greg began to walk across the street to nudge Mark when Mark finally snapped out of his deep thought. "Hey, sorry about that, I was just going to grab the mail when I saw you. What are you doing walking anyways?"

"What do you mean?" replied Mark. He was slightly confused, he thought he had no other way of getting to Greg's house so why wouldn't he be walking.

"Where's your car? Is it in the shop or something, I thought I saw it when I passed by your house last night," questioned Greg. Now Mark was even more confused; that car in the driveway this morning must have been his. He had no idea how to drive, yeah he watched his dad drive a couple times before he left his mother, but he was never behind the wheel.

"No, uh, it's sitting in my driveway, I don't know how to drive," hesitantly replied Mark.

"Ha ha, you're a riot! You drove me and Scott to the movies only two days ago, don't you remember?" said Greg, genuinely beginning to worry now. "And why exactly were you walking to the park?"

"I was just thinking about my past, my life has seemed to change a lot in the past couple days," said Mark, "I totally forgot we went to the movies."

Greg looked at him shockingly but shook off the notion that Mark's memory was beginning to fade. The two guys sat there for a while conversing about how much fun they had as kids. Of course Mark didn't remember or know about any of the things he did with Greg as a kid, but he pretended to, and it felt good to know there was someone there that actually wanted to be his friend. Greg invited Mark into his house early and asked if he wanted anything to drink. There was some Mountain Dew in the fridge and although Mark didn't know what it tasted like, Greg knew that's what he would have wanted.

While Greg was in the kitchen, Mark began thinking of what he remembered of Greg. There wasn't much to remember, but he knew that Greg was always on his baseball team and that he seemed to have better things to do than to talk to Mark about anything. As a matter of fact, no one ever really talked to Mark. He remembered always trying to speak to fellow peers but his mother was always interrupting his conversations with an excuse. Whenever he thought about his mother, a nasty feeling would hit him in the gut. There was nothing he seemed to miss nor like about the way his mother treated him. In more than one way, he was extremely happy being away from his past. In the background of his thoughts came a knocking sound. There were people at Greg's front door trying to get inside and Mark had no idea what to do. He threw himself forward, got off of the floor, and walked to Greg's front door.

A gust of wind blew into Mark's face as the front door of Greg's house swung open. Standing before him were four young ladies and one guy. The girls all greeted Mark with a large smile and a high five. There was nothing unusual about the greeting, but the way that they all seemed to shine with beauty fascinated Mark. The guy, Scott, walked inside with a large grin on his face as always. They called him "smiley" actually, because that's all he ever seemed to do. All of the new faces moved into Greg's living room and took a seat on Greg's carpet. Mark wasn't very sure about what to do or how to approach the new faces, so they all just sat in silence until Greg came back with the drinks.

The living room was set up quite simply. The carpet was a light green. When you walked in the front door straight ahead were the stairs that led to Greg's bedroom. The living room, where everyone was, was directly to the right. The couch was the first thing you passed which faced the big screen television that stood in the corner of the room. It was quite a plain layout, but it was large enough to comfortably sit the multiple teenagers.

"Here Mark," said Greg as he handed Mark the bright green Mountain Dew. The expression on Mark's face went slack as he stared into the fake colored drink. The girls were together talking and giggling while Scott set up the Monopoly board to play on. Mark grabbed the instructions packet for Monopoly and began learning how to play. The girls that Scott brought over to Greg's were insane. None of them were normal, or so thought Mark, considering he had never spoken to that many girls before.

The crazy girls did have names, and although Mark didn't think he would remember them, they introduced themselves anyways. The one with the red hair and blue eyes was Becca, there were two that looked very similar they both had dark brown hair and brown eyes, the one with the curlier dark hair was named Jade, and the other one was named Alice. The last girl with them, who was a little quieter than the rest, was named Lisa. As the girls began to calm down a little, they all gathered around the small coffee table in Greg's living room. It was time to begin the never ending game of Monopoly.

Throughout the uncontrollable game of Monopoly, Scott and Becca were constantly cheating, Mark was still confused, but was somehow winning, and everyone else was just trying to have a good time. Because everyone was beginning to cheat, the game ended abruptly and everyone decided to go for a walk outside. It was a perfect night for a walk, the stars were lighting the night sky, the temperature was a perfect 75 degrees and a tight group of friends were ready to walk forever.

There were a total of about six street lamps on the road the seven kids were trotting along, and usually none of them ever worked. Tonight was different though, every light sent out an amber glow except one. The one seemed to be glowing a deep sage color; one that was very alluring to Mark. As they passed the streetlight Mark noticed a little path running next to it into the woods. He stopped in front of the shadowy path and thought about the past times he had with these kids. He tried to remember what they were all like, but he just couldn't think straight. Becca stopped next to him, wondering what was going on inside his head. She was tempted to ask him a bunch of questions because he seemed very distraught. Mark snapped out of his trance and looked at the path knowingly. He wondered why it looked so familiar to him. Nothing was ringing a bell, but Becca seemed to notice something strange about the path too. She sighed and whispered into the night air, "So familiar, yet unknown." She turned to walk away when something grabbed her arm. She turned to see Mark's hand gripped around her elbow. He was still staring down the path when she turned to look at his face. His expression was expressionless, and she was beginning to get scared. The rest of the gang continued walking down the road, not stopping for the two amazed by the simple path. Mark looked up to Becca and simply smiled at her, "you feel it too?" She knew what he was talking about, but wasn't sure why he was asking her about it. She didn't know what the feeling was, she just knew she felt something supernatural about the path. She had that sense with things; sometimes her dreams predicted the future and sometimes she could sense what someone was going to do before they did it. It was a second nature to her, and when she felt the psychic waves from the path, she didn't really think too much of it. Mark patiently waited for her response, wondering if she really did feel something or she just said what they both were thinking.

Becca looked to Mark, thinking of how to word what she was going to say. "I know where the path leads, I don't know why I know, I just do. Everything about it seems eerie to me, and when I stare at you and I stare at it, I feel what I felt when I first saw it. It's not normally there, and we seem to be the only ones who see this. Why are you giving me that look? Do you know what the path is?"

"I've been down it, that's why I'm here. Do you think if I travel it again I'll return to the past?" Mark was astonished by the chemistry between the two, it was as if they'd known each other forever. He wanted her to respond with a maybe, or something hinting that they should try walking down it, but he wasn't expecting it.

"Let's find out," replied Becca. This time she was the one waiting for him to respond. She wanted to visit the past, heck she wanted to visit the future, where was this going to lead her though? If it brought Mark to the future when he took it, maybe it will bring them forward more.

She grabbed his arm just to shake him from his thoughts. She could tell he wanted to take the path, but at the same time he was very cautious about doing that. He looked at where she was grabbing his arm. He moved his arm outward and she hooked arms with him. They were excited to take the path, they didn't know if they'd be split apart; there was only one way to find out, and they were both willing to take the chance. They took one last look into each other's eyes and smiled. Arms linked, they slowly moved down the path. They never looked back to the road. There was nothing back there they needed or wanted. It was time to let go of the present, they needed change, and this was their way of getting it... hopefully.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The sound of birds chirping in the morning light awoke the two teenagers suddenly. The both of them sat up and looked at the world in front of them. They were dismayed to what was before their eyes. The scene was beautiful, the trees were green (grass green) and there were bright, colorful flowers everywhere they could see. This is what they would call home for the rest of their lives, or so they thought silently.

There was no sign of life around them, nothing moved but the trees from the calm, spring breeze. The sun was shining a different color, it was redder, as if it had cooled down slightly through time. The green grass at their feet was so thick and comfortable it felt like a carpet lying beneath their feet. Mark and Becca stood up frightened by this new place. What the two didn't realize is the incredible heavyness to this new place. Although it seemed so beautiful to the eye, there was something dark behind the surface.

The two of them took the liberty of showing themselves around the area. An opening appeared before them and when they entered the large field the thick forest disappeared with their memories of the path they took to get there. Nearby they could hear a stream flowing rapidly. There were no houses nor people, it was quiet, too quiet. This new place seemed peaceful, like there were no problems or conflict in the world. As Mark and Becca walked they approached the stream they heard before. It was absolutely beautiful and the sound of the running water was musical. The rocks in the stream seemed like the perfect place to sit and relax a little, so they decided to hop on them and inhale the clean spring air.

They still haven't spoken to each other because of their state of amazement. So Becca decided to break the silence. "This is amazing, it's ridiculous. When did this happen? Why? Mark? Have I changed too? Do I look different?" questioned Becca.

"Huh? Oh! Umm, no you look good, the same I mean," replied Mark. "Actually, now that I look at you closer, your nose has gotten bigger, and wow, you smell!"

Becca chuckled uncontrollably for a couple minutes as she absorbed the sarcastic criticism Mark just threw at her. "This place seems pretty nice," said Mark. "Why would we have ended up here?"

"I have no idea," replied Becca still looking around at the new sight. They sat there together in silence until a large boom shook the ground beneath them. The two jumped slightly and looked at each other worryingly. They stood up and started heading towards the booming noise. It may not have been the best idea, but what did they know, this was the first time they'd ever been here. As they moved hurriedly towards the boom, their surroundings began to shift. There were little trees around them, staring. As they became more and more distracted by the small trees, they began to near a large canyon. It was deep, deeper than anything they'd ever seen, and the closer they got to it, the farther it went. Thunder crashed loud above them, it echoed through the large valley. It felt like it surrounded Mark and Becca, and it sent a shiver of fear through them. They backed up towards the large forest again where many enormous oak trees stood and stared. There was no shelter, so they stood under one of the large trees as the rain began flooding from the sky. Mark grabbed Becca and hugged her to keep her warm. It stopped her from shaking for a while, but when the voice of a small man happened to hit her ear, she became frightened once again. He yelled to them both, saying it wasn't safe to sit there. They looked up to find him sitting inside the large tree, he didn't have room for them to stay there through the storm, so he told them of this little cave just around the side of the mountain. He said that the storm would only last about ten minutes and to come back when it's over. He needed to talk to them about where they were and how they got themselves there.

Mark and Becca got into the cave just as the lightning shot down from above. The sky was dark, almost black. The rain flooded into the gorge and all the two kids could do was wait for it to stop. They sat in silence listening to the rain patter down unhesitatingly. Mark began a new conversation about the unusual old man atop the tree. The old man seemed nice, but who knows what kind of evil lives in this unfamiliar place. They discussed what could happen when they returned to the old man's place in the tree. They figured they might as well go because they had no idea if they'd survive either way. The rain began to fade after about ten minutes, and as they stood inside the cave anxious to leave, Mark asked Becca a personal question. "Why did you come all this way with me? Would you have gone if it were Greg or Scott or your girl friends?"

Becca was startled at first by the question so she turned away from him as she blushed slightly. She mumbled to herself why, and decided to make something up. "Well, I probably would have gone either way, it seemed like something I would want to go check out. I would have gone alone if you didn't want to go, ya know?"

He looked at her face and couldn't help but smirk at her obvious lie. He knew why she went with him, he just didn't want to call her out on it. He saw her blush when he asked the question, and instead of being a gentleman about it, he would continue to act like an egotistical dick for the rest of their adventure.

They left the cave after the rain died to a drizzle. The trees were still dripping from the downpour they just encountered and the two teenagers headed back to the old man's tree house. They were distracted by the clearness of the sky after the rain fell. When they looked into the canyon, they couldn't see the bottom anymore. The rain that lasted for ten minutes had filled the valley to the top. They didn't think it had rained that hard, but then again, what kind of rain lasted for only ten minutes. Not only was the gorge full, but it had a luminous glow to it. There was no sun in the sky, and it didn't look like there were any lights on around them. It was too early for the moon to be out too. It was as if time here was no issue, like things would finish as quick as nature wanted it to. It was almost magical and it seemed to relax the two of them. They walked together towards the oak tree the little man was living in. When they approached the trunk of the tree the little man exited his shelter and greeted Mark and Becca. He introduced himself; his name was Phil, and the more Mark stared at his old face, he noticed he looked a lot like Greg would as an old man. The old man was full of wisdom, and spoke to Mark and Becca of what would happen if they stayed here. He knew of the path they took, for he had once taken it as well. This place seemed wonderful and peaceful, but as you stayed there longer, it became unbearable. The old man could never return to his life for this place controls him now. It gives those who travel the path one day to leave again until it takes over your body completely. Nature is what controls everything and everyone here. There was no turning back once they made the decision to stay, so they had to think together carefully. As they pondered what Phil just told them, he brought them atop his tree house. He was getting rather fidgety as they two conversed about staying there or leaving. "YOU MUST LEAVE HERE!" yelled the old man. He was beginning to sweat slightly; he noticed the sun was going to set completely in a couple of hours. It would take them forever to find the path if it turned to night before they left his house.

Mark and Becca looked at the old man, this time genuinely frightened. They wanted to know why he was so forced on them leaving, but instead of asking they nodded their heads in confirmation of hearing what he just yelled. They asked him where they would go to find the path again. He seemed so omniscient; everything they asked about he knew the answers to. They liked him, and for the little amount of time they knew him, they'd miss him when they returned home.

Both of them took a deep breath and listened as Phil told them where to go to find the path again. He said that the only time it reappeared was when the sun began to set, so they had about 30 minutes to find it. There would be a sage color streetlight in front of it just like the one they saw in Greenwood Valley. If anybody stopped them on their way, they would have to ignore them. The people here would try to convince them to stay forever and the old man wasn't going to let that happen. Mark shook the old man's hand and thanked him. Becca hugged him hard like she would her grandpa (if she liked her grandpa that is). They said their final goodbyes and off they went to find the mysterious path once again.

Next to the old man's tree house lied a field full of blue strawberries. They looked delectable and as they walked through the field they picked and ate a couple. They were bitter at first, but the more they chewed them the sweeter they became. There was no fruit like that back home, so they figured they'd eat as many pieces as they could before they got to the secluded path.

At the end of the field lied a large boulder. It was full of ledges so it was easy to climb over. Becca led the two of them across the boulder knowing Mark would save her if she fell backwards. The climb was very simple, just straight up. There was nothing they had to avoid so they got to the top in no time. It wasn't too high up from the ground, so when they bent over the other side of the rock they jumped down the other side, landing in a pile of soft dirt. They slid down the large mound to the pavement ahead of them and continued on their search for the trail.

As they neared the end of the paved road, a large statue stood next to the road. It was of a lady and it looked like it had been enlarged. She had a gleam to her eye and it looked as if she were trapped inside the cement structure. When the finally approached the bottom of her feet they admired her beauty. Her body looked so relaxed but as you stared into her eyes you noticed the tenseness in her. Her curly hair was flowing to the left with the wind, and she looked remarkably like Jade. Mark and Becca looked at each other with a weirded out expression on their faces. They took a mental picture of the statue and continued on their walk. There were a lot of statues as they went around corners and found themselves at the beginning of the forest again. When they passed the first tree the air changed from beauty and calmness to windy and talkative. It felt like every gust of wind that passed them by spoke to them softly. It sent shivers down their backs creating goosebumps all over their pale bodies.

They huddled closer to each other and continued searching through the woods for the path. It was darker in the forest because of the trees, and also the sun was beginning to set. In the distance they could see a dim, sage green lamp. The both of them perked up when they noticed the indication that the path was ahead of them. They looked to one another and decided they were going to run for it. On the count of three they let go of each other and split up. Running through the trees they were parallel to each other. They zigzagged all around trying to avoid running into the trunks of the trees or the rocks that lied beneath them. As the path became more visible they slowed themselves down. They were out of breath, considering they were both lazy and due to neither of them playing sports anymore. It felt good to them though, the feeling that their bodies were beginning to work from top to bottom. It was releasing and they both inned on the entrance of the path.

They stopped at the entryway right before the green streetlight and pondered whether or not they were ready to leave here. They smiled at each other excitedly and casually made their way down the mystical path and back to their lives.


End file.
